Google lures employees back to the office with hotel discount at Mountain View headquarters
Google is implementing a new strategy to encourage its employees to return to the office by offering a special deal at a hotel on the campus of its headquarters in Mountain View, California. The company is offering hotel rooms for $99 a night through September 30 as part of a “summer promotion,” writes CNBC.
This initiative is part of Google’s efforts to ease the transition to a hybrid workplace. However, the offer is only available for unauthorized business travel, meaning the company will not reimburse for lodging. Employees must use their personal credit cards to take advantage of the offer.
Promotional materials highlight the benefits of staying at the on-campus hotel, including not having to commute to the office, getting more sleep, eating breakfast, and exercising before work. After work, employees can relax on the hotel’s rooftop terrace or attend local events.
The hotel is located on Google’s nearly 170,000-square-foot campus adjacent to NASA’s Ames Research Center. The office opened last year and can accommodate up to 4,000 employees working on Google’s advertising products.
Despite the company’s best efforts, some employees expressed skepticism about the proposal on internal discussion boards. At $99 per night, the cost of living in the hotel would be about $3,000 per month. Employees pointed out that they pay less for their apartments and that the offer was still too expensive. One employee even suggested that the offer could be a way for Google to reduce the number of hotel rooms available after corporate travel budgets were cut.
Last year, Google began returning most employees to physical offices for three days a week, but for several months after the mandatory return to the office, attendance was still low.
The company faced pushback from employees, who cited the high cost of housing near offices and higher productivity when working remotely. In June, Google announced new enforcement measures, including using office visits in performance reviews and tracking badge data. The company’s chief human resources officer even asked approved remote workers to reconsider their status and join their colleagues in the office.